Merdanaya's Weblog

Save The Woods – Canoe made from disposable chopsticks

merdanaya — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:12:06 +0000

It is a nice idea to be worried about preventing the waste of
waribashi—disposable chopsticks—millions of disposable chopsticks are
thrown away after a single-use.

A former city employee in the Fukushima prefecture town of Koriyama
has built a 4-meter long canoe from 7,382 of used
disposable chopsticks recovered from the city hall cafeteria. Bothered
that perfectly good wood was going to waste after a single use, Shuhei
Ogawara — whose job at city hall involved working with the local
forestry industry — spent the last two years of his career collecting
used chopsticks from the cafeteria.

An experienced canoe builder, Ogawara spent over 3 months gluing 7,382 chopsticks together into strips to form the canoe shell, to which he added a polyester resin
coat. The canoe weighs about 30 kilograms, which is a bit
heavier than an ordinary cedar canoe, but Ogawara is confident it will
float. A launching ceremony is planned for May at nearby Lake Inawashiro.

Japanese man finds homeless woman living in his closet

merdanaya — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:10:36 +0000

You won’t belive it.

A homeless woman has been arrested after living undetected for almost a year in a tiny cupboard in a man’s house in Japan. The woman, identified as 58-year-old Tatsuko Horikawa, was found by police searching the home of the man, who believed he lived alone in Fukuoka.

The resident of the house, who has not been named, became suspicious that he was the victim of repeat burglaries after he noticed food was going missing from his refrigerator.

The man decided to install security cameras linked to his mobile phone and on Wednesday caught images of a woman walking around the house while he was out.

Believing he had detected the burglar, the man contacted police and, after an exhaustive search of the property, officers found the woman hiding in the top of a built-in cupboard designed to store bedding and mattresses.

Behind the sliding door, she had laid out a thin futon and had several plastic drinks bottles, police said. There was just enough room for her to lay down, they added.

Horikawa told police that she had nowhere to live and had first taken up residence in the cupboard, in a room that the man rarely used, about one year previously when the owner of the house had gone out and not locked the door.

Police believe she may have moved between different addresses in the neighbourhood during her stowaway year.

The woman did not apparently steal any money or other items from the house, but did make use of the shower and toilet.The police described Horikawa as looking neat and clean. She was charged with trespassing.

When you go home do not forget check up your closet.

Euro 2008 Football Live Streaming provided by WOWOW maybe the most expensive in the world

merdanaya — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:54:28 +0000

On the website of EURO 2008 you can find live streaming. The rights for this service holds nearest broadcaster to your region. For example, for those who live in Japan WOWOW is the broadcaster of EURO 2008. Infortunately it is the most expensive in the world. In many countries it is even free. Here I will attach some snapshots for you to see.

JAPAN

For example China is free.

Thanks to BBC, it is free in UK.

Spain

In Turkey, you can select which stream to choose

Same in Russia

USA

Netherland

Germany

France

In Brazil it is not free but it is cheap

Australia also expensive but it is cheaper than Japan

Russia

The broadcasting is not in prime time, it is early in the morning. Not many people get up early in the morning to watch EURO 2008. Moreover pay 15 euro for every match.
On the Internet you can find live streaming of other countries for free. And the quality is not so bad. You can start by downloading these softwares SopCast or TVAnts

First European Sumo Champion

merdanaya — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:35:02 +0000

Japan has a new sumo champion, and this time he is european.
Kotooshu, whose real name is Kaloyan Mahlyanov, said: “I can’t believe it. I’ve let so many chances slip through my hands before”. He became the seventh foreign wrestler to win a tournament. The two reigning grand champions are Mongolian.
Kotooshu, from a village near the city of Veliko Tarnovo, was a European champion at Greco-Roman wrestling by the age of 14, and was expected to compete in the 2000 Olympics until he was spotted by his current stable master, Sadogatake, who persuaded him that his bulk was better suited to the sumo ring.

Kotooshu is the tallest wrestler in sumo, at 6ft 8in. Since his debut in 2002 he advanced to the rank of ozeki after 19 tournaments, faster than any other wrestler in modern sumo history.

This video shows how Kotooshu beat the great champion yokozuna Asashoryu

UEFA CUP trophy is going to Zenit

merdanaya — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:21:39 +0000

Yahoo!!!!! Zenit – Glasgow Rangers 2:0

New victory of russian football. Three years have past since CSKA Moscow won UEFA CUP trophy, and now trophy is back to Russia again. But this time not in Moscow but to St.Petersburg. Nobody believed that Zenit could go that far. Even when it reached semi-finals everyone expected them to lose against Bayern München. Here are some snapshots from this match.